The Windmills Junior School

School Day

The School Day

The school morning commences at 8.55am. All children arriving after this time must report to the office to indicate they are on school premises and will be marked as late.

Afternoon finishes at 3.15pm

Parents and carers are asked to ensure that children do not arrive before 8.45am as the school cannot take responsibility for them before that time unless they are attending school activities. School staff are on duty in each playground and on the gate from 8.45am.

Children come into school when they arrive, get themselves organised for the day and go straight to the classroom to do a morning learning task. 

The hours spent on actual teaching during a normal week totals 24 hours 40 minutes. This total includes Religious Education but excludes the statutory daily act of worship, registration and breaks (including lunch).

Attendance and Absences

Parents are expected to keep absences to a minimum. All children are expected to be in school for a minimum of 96% of the time, over the year this equals to only a few days off for sickness. Holidays are not permitted during term time. Such absences will not be authorised and will incur a fine in accordance with WSCC school policy on absence. Please see the Attendance Policy on the web site for full details .

By law, parents are required to ensure that their children of compulsory school age are registered at school and attend regularly. Absence should only occur when a child is unfit to learn or has a day of religious observance.

For children to achieve all they are capable of, it is essential that they attend school regularly and punctually. Broken schooling equates to missed learning opportunities.

If there is a problem with getting children to school, this should be discussed with Mrs Murray as soon as possible. Please ensure that children arrive at school on time, properly attired and in a condition to learn. You are urged not to take children on holiday during term time as the effect on the continuity of the children’s education can be considerable. Since September 2013, absence from school cannot be authorised unless there are exceptional circumstances.